BANGKOK, Thailand -- Scholars, activists and artists opened the first-ever regional conference on Asia's gay, lesbian and transgender communities on Thursday in Bangkok, tackling issues from discrimination to how films portray transsexuals.

More than 500 delegates from East Asia and other countries, including Israel, Pakistan and the United States, came for the three-day event, said Thaninnit Pithaksinakon, the conference's public relations manager.

About 50-100 delegates had initially been expected, Thaninnit said.

"Gay, lesbian and transgendered Asia has arrived. It is here and it is real," declared Peter A. Jackson, an Asian history fellow at the Australian National University and a co-organizer of the event.

"This is a phenomenal and historical gathering," said Josephine Cheun-Juei Ho, a feminist scholar and head of the Center for the Study of Sexualities at Taiwan's National Central University.

Jackson said more gay, lesbian and transgender Asians have been coming forward in recent years, with an increasing number of non-governmental organizations, films and businesses focusing on them.

"However, absolutely everywhere across Asia, they're still seen as second-class citizens," Jackson said.

Experts at the conference plan to discuss the social stigma attached to the communities, as well as legal discrimination and the way gays and transsexuals are portrayed in Asian cinema and literature. They also expect to discuss promoting legal recognition for sex changes.

The meeting was jointly organized by the Australia-based non-governmental organization AsiaPacifiQueer Network and the Office of Human Rights Studies and Social Development at Thailand's Mahidol University.

Although Thailand is a conservative Buddhist society, homosexuality and cross-dressing are widely tolerated. (AP)